


Retrospective

by orphan_account



Series: Fill the Void [20]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:40:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23462578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Gavin has been filming and creating videos for years now. So why is it that today, when they're playing a horror game, that everything seems to fall apart?
Series: Fill the Void [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1663750
Kudos: 19





	Retrospective

Gavin knows he startles easily. He has a very quick flight or fight response and for his on-camera work he’s built that into his character. He screams and yells and squawks even if the bird comparisons are a bit tiring now. He knows he makes an entertaining spectacle on camera. That’s his job. He likes it. He likes what the other guys bring out of him. But sometimes—sometimes the gameplay is hard to handle. It could be technical difficulties that need to be addressed for over an hour, stressing people out and making the whole office seem unproductive. Sometimes the game is difficult to riff off of and it feels like they end up with a lot of dead air. While he’s sure the editors can pull something of it together for the channel, sometimes it leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

They all have their moments. It makes sense seeing as they’re in the office constantly recording, coming up with new ideas for fresh content. Sometimes you can tell when someone’s in a bad mood. It shows up and carries over between videos when the gameplay frustrates you beyond what you’re able to handle, but you have to carry on because this is _your job._ The videos have to be recorded. They have to go up on the channel.

Ninety percent of the time, things are fine. Gavin can handle anything. The jokes and teasing usually rolls off him like water on a duck. He can have fun with the technical difficulties like when the GTA servers are acting up. Sometimes it’s even nice to have a break.

But it’s always around October when things can get a bit stressful. It’s Spooktober month. They’re switching up their games for horror ones, turning out the lights in the office to create an atmosphere for the web came. Sometimes it’s VR which usually gets Gavin’s heart racing and he can hear them laughing at him, at how he reacts, but he can get through them.

Sometimes, though, it’s like he woke up on the wrong side of bed. His calendar is rapidly filling up now that they’re in the last few months before Christmas break. He has a lot of commitments he has to fill, deadlines piling up, and it feels like everyday he’s simply going through the motions. Get up. Get dressed. Eat something maybe and head into the office for another long day of filming and troubleshooting.

Today is supposed to be simple all things considered. Some GTA followed by a Let’s Watch of some sort of horror game. Ryan is the one that plays. They usually get Geoff in for horror, but he’s busy, so it’s Ryan as usual. Gavin, Jeremy, and Michael are there in the background to add commentary.

Lights off, game queued up, and Gavin tries to settle in for some witty comments. Ryan is usually easy to prod, easy to suggest things to. He’s good for the Let’s Watch episodes since he usually listens to anyone who asks him to do something. It overall makes for an entertaining time. Michael and Jeremy are usually the more dominant personalities on camera. They always have been, so it’s easy for Gavin to slip in and add his own remarks when he feels necessary. It’s easy. At first.

The game open ups slowly. This’ll probably be a multi part series on its own. They get into the game. Ryan gets familiar with the mechanics and there are some spooks but nothing too bad. Nothing that’ll make Gavin think of this game for the next several hours.

But then things start getting tense. They have the volume turned up for the experience of it. The gameplay starts taking a turn for the worse and then the jump scares come out. And some of them, well, they play harder than others.

Gavin is quick to jump into fight and flight reflexes. That’s just how he responds to stuff like that. It what makes him funny on camera. It’s why they get Geoff to do these things for the same reason. But today it just irks him. It sits wrong with him. And as much as he tries to let it roll off him, let Michael and Jeremy laugh at him every time he jerks because a jump scare caught him off guard. It makes him feel jittery all over and when they get far enough into the recording where they can call for a break, Gavin is quick to leave.

He doesn’t know why it gets to him sometimes. The sounds, the sights. He feels like he should have control over this for now. He’s done this for so many years, in so many ways, so why is it affecting him now?

He takes a moment to get himself a drink of water and this is when Jeremy catches up with him.

“You okay?” he asks, folding his arms to come stand next to Gavin by the water cooler.

“Yeah, yeah. Just fine. Felt like I woke up on the wrong side of bed though.” He tries to make it jokey. They all do when something is the slightest bit off and they’re not trying to make a big deal out of it.

“Well if you want to step out for the next recording, we can sub Matt or Lindsay in.”

Gavin shakes his head. “Nah. I should be good for the rest of it.”

“Okay. Well, if you want to stop, you know Ryan won’t mind.”

“Yeah. Thanks, Jeremy.”

“No problem, bud.”

He finishes his drink and heads back into the office with a clearer mind. The fog of the day hasn’t dissipated yet, but he can do this. He can do this one video like he’s done thousands of times.


End file.
